Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what financial support is being offered to care providers who are financing the testing of staff for covid-19 following the ending of universal free testing.

To support care providers to conduct testing, we have provided a total of £523 million in funding to the sector since December 2020, with £126.3 million announced in September to help with costs associated with testing until 31 March 2022.

We will continue to review the appropriate support and guidance for the sector to manage the virus in care settings and protect those most vulnerable to COVID-19. Further details on the adult social care testing regime after 1 April 2022 will be provided in due course.